He did not say whether he expects this to be his final season, period — although he did indicate that he takes a wait-and-see approach.

I’m not going to do anything different than what I have done my whole career, Martinez said. I have always taken it day by day, year by year.

Whenever his career ends, Martinez will have quite a résumé to look back on. He enters this season with a career .298 average and 237 home runs. He finished second to Mike Trout in the 2014 American League MVP race — an impressive accomplishment for a DH. That season, Martinez set career highs with a .335 average and 32 home runs, leading Detroit to its fourth straight AL Central title.

Teams will always have weaknesses, no matter how many free agents are signed. But players expected to fly off the shelf, the typical big-ticket items like top-rotation starting pitchers similar to Jake Arrieta and Yu Darvish, didn’t. And now there are teams who have weaknesses to patch up with the duct tape for the job sitting in a training camp in the middle of Florida. That these conditions exist, suggests teams want to pay less for free agents that they have more than they want to improve. Teams, at a detriment to labor ethics, can and will (and have) find ways to have both.

It seems now that the aim of front offices is to underpay for production as much as possible. Tim Lincecum in his present situation may be a low-risk, high-reward player that allows a front office to get much higher value than what they might end up paying. While the dam in Bradenton may not crack, Lincecum can maybe, just maybe, act as a team’s duct tape.

He was asked what his thoughts were when he first heard the news of the shooting.

When you first hear ‘shooter,’ I took my next golf swing, Rizzo admitted. That’s how numb our country is to it. … My parents were one of the first homeowners in Parkland. I’ve seen that community grow into what it is now. It’s crazy to see that happen at home.

Rizzo isn’t sure how he’ll honor the victims this season, but the Cubs have assured him they will help in any capacity, and he’s confident some good will eventually come out of a gut-wrenching time in his community.

They will be in my thoughts and prayers every day, he said. They’re going to turn this tragedy into something really positive.

While the Bruins are a pedestrian 5-6 in road/neutral games, their two best wins came away from Pauley Pavilion — over Kentucky in late December in New Orleans and, more impressively, at Arizona. That’s important because to secure a bid, UCLA will have to win on the road.